Lace end connector and method of use

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a lace end assembly having a male end connector and a female end connector. The lace end assembly uses an integrated magnet in one connector that interacts with another magnet in the other connector to couple the connectors. The male end connector is adapted to retain a knotted end of a pair of laces, such as found in a wakeboard binding. The female end connector is mounted on the wakeboard binding. The male end connector includes a protrusion that houses a first magnet. The female end connector includes a body portion that houses a second magnet. The female end connector also includes a cavity. The cavity receives the male end connector to allow the magnet to align and link magnetically, thus securing the lace ends to the binding.

This application claims priority from provisional patent application No.60/693,793 filed on Jun. 27, 2005, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to lace ends. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a lace end connection to secure the lacesusing magnets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Laces are used in a variety of devices. Laces can provide light, lowcost support for holding and securing items. Most notably, laces aretied together to keep shoes on one's feet. Users desire laces that arelightweight and sturdy.

One drawback with laces is that they can become unraveled over time, useand exposure. Frayed laces make it very hard to secure the laces or totie them together. Eventually, one has to buy new laces or somehowrepair the old ones. Further, laces tend to get caught or untied duringphysical activities. Some current lace-end designs have a plastic clipthat is clipped to the laces on a binding to prevent these shortcomings.The clip, however, tends to become unclipped during use, thereby causingproblems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, a lace end connection is disclosed that is novel and unobviousover known lace end connections, and solves the problems and shortcomingdiscussed above. According to the disclosed embodiments, a lace endassembly for securing loose ends of a foot binding is disclosed. Thelace end assembly includes a male end connector having means forretaining a knotted end of a pair of laces. The male end connector has aprotrusion. The protrusion includes a first magnet. The lace endassembly includes a female end connector having a body portion having asecond magnet therein. The body portion forms a second cavity. Thesecond cavity is adapted to receive the protrusion of the male endconnector for magnetic holding as a result of interaction between thefirst and second magnets. The female end is adapted to be mounted to thefoot binding.

The invention also entails a method of securing laces in a foot binding.The method includes passing a pair of laces through an opening in a maleend connector of a lace end assembly. The method also includes knottingends of the pair of laces. The male end connector has a cavity to retainthe knot. The method also includes magnetically linking the male endconnector to a female end connector mounted to a foot binding to retainthe knotted lace end in place.

With the male and female components, lace end connections will notbecome unclipped or separate during use. The male end connector includesa hole and a cavity to accept the laces. The male end connector alsoprovides a space to hold the knot of the laces in the hole. The male endconnector also includes a magnet that has been overmolded.

The female end connector is stitched into an item to secure the lace endassembly to a product. The female end connector includes a magnet aswell. The female end connector is configured to accept the male endconnector. The magnets hold the connectors together to prevent the lacesfrom coming loose during use or becoming frayed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and furtherconstitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of thepresent invention. Together with the description, the figures listedbelow serve to explain and disclose the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a male end connector of a lace end assembly accordingto the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom view of the male end connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a female end connector of a lace end assemblyaccording to the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the female end connector of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a lace end assembly attached to a binding accordingto the disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention. Examples of the embodiments are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 depicts a male end connector 106 of a lace end assembly accordingto the disclosed embodiments. Male end connector 106 may be made ofplastic or other materials that are lightweight and durable. Male endconnector 106 is broken into several sections that allow connector 106to be fitted with a female end connector of the lace end assembly,disclosed in greater detail below.

Laces 102 and 104 have ends that are enclosed by male end connector 106.Laces 102 and 104 may be comprised of known materials used for makinglaces, such as nylon, cotton, and the like. Laces 102 and 104 may extendaway from male end connector to join together as one single item or stayseparate. Laces 102 and 104 also may tie together. No matter theconfiguration or composition, laces 102 and 104 are used to tiesomething down, or hold something. Laces 102 and 104 also are used totie shoes together.

The present invention enables the ends of laces 102 and 104 to besecured. For example, laces 102 and 104 may be part of a wakeboardbinding that acts as a boot for use on wakeboards. Loose lace end can beuncomfortable or pose as a safety threat to boarders by flying around orgetting caught on equipment. An assembly to secure laces keeps the laceends from becoming loose or breaking during use. The present invention,however, is not limited to wakeboard bindings, and is applicable to anyuse where lace ends need to be secured, such as shoes, snowboardingboots, combat boots, sneakers, athletic shoes and the like that employlaces. Thus, in the present invention, a binding refers to any articlethat uses laces, whereby the lace ends need to be secured.

Male end connector 106 includes protrusion 107 and upper portion 110.Protrusion 107 is located at the end of male end connector 106 oppositelaces 102 and 104. Protrusion 107 has a flat shape that is inserted intothe appropriate section of female end connector, disclosed below. Theheight of protrusion 107 is smaller when compared to other sections ofmale end connector 106. Protrusion 107 also encloses a magnet 108.

Protrusion 107 is connected to slope 116, which leads into ridge portion114. Slope 116 and ridge portion 114 also help secure male end connector106 into the female end connector. Upper portion 110 connects to ridgeportion 114 via slope 112. Upper portion 110 is the highest portion ofmale end connector 106. Upper portion 110 preferably is large enough tohouse the ends of laces 102 and 104. Upper portion 110 also may be thepart of male end connector 106 that is not placed in contact with afemale end portion, as disclosed below.

FIG. 2 depicts a bottom view of male end connector 106 of FIG. 1according to the disclosed embodiments. Male end connector 106 includesall the portions disclosed above as well as cavity 206. Cavity 206 issized to fit within upper portion 110 and to retain knotted end 202 oflaces 102 and 104. Cavity 206 also includes opening 204. Opening 204preferably is circular in shape, with a diameter large enough to fit theknotted end 202. Opening 204 should be large enough to allow access toknotted end 202. Opening 205 within male end connector 106 allow laces102 and 104 to enter cavity 206. Opening 205 should be large enough toaccommodate knotted end 202.

Protrusion 107 includes magnet 108, as disclosed above. Thus, male endconnector 106 includes magnet 108 to facilitate a connection with afemale end connector, and a cavity to enclose lace ends 202.

FIG. 3 depicts a female end connector 300 of a lace end assemblyaccording to the disclosed embodiments. Female end connector 300 is thepart of assembly 100 that is attached to the shoe, clothing or otherarticle to which male end connector 106 is to be secured. Female endconnector 300 may be attached to the binding, by any means known. Forexample, female end connector 300 may be attached to fabric using anadhesive, with the fabric then stitched to the binding.

Female end connector 300 includes aperture 302 along one side.Preferably, aperture 302 is along the widest side of female endconnector 300 to fit the wider end of male end connector 106 that isopposite protrusion 107. Aperture 302 acts as a hole in the bottom offemale end connector 300. Aperture 302 and female end connector 300 aredefined by base 304, which surrounds the connector. Base 304 representsa border for female end connector 300 that is attached to the article.

Slope 308 tapers up female end connector 300 from base 304 to upperportion 306. Slope 308 may be a gradual slope to accept protrusion 107and slope 116 of male end connector 106, shown in FIG. 1. Upper portion306 represents the top portion of female end connector 300. Upperportion 306 also houses magnet 310. Magnet 310 corresponds to magnet 108within male end connector 106. The polarity or configuration of magnet310 is such that magnet 108 is attracted by the magnetic forces ofmagnet 130.

Once aligned, magnets 108 and 310 will couple together to secure maleend connector 106 and female end connector 300. Thus, magnet 310 shouldbe located in upper portion 306 so that it is aligns with magnet 108when protrusion 107 is within female end connector 300 for coupling maleend connector 106 with female end connector 300.

FIG. 4 depicts a side view of female end connector 300 shown in FIG. 3.Base 304, slope 308 and upper portion 306 are shown. Further, aperture302 is shown as extending out from underneath upper portion 306 toprovide a through hole in female end connector 300. Magnet 310 also isshown in female end connector 300.

Female end connector 300 also includes a cavity 400 that is formed byslope 308 and upper portion 306. Slope 308 extends around the narrowerside of base 304 to upper portion 306 to form cavity 400. Aperture 302and cavity 400 join to provide an open area along the bottom of femaleend connector 300 that is surrounded by base 304. Thus, protrusion 107,slope 116 and ridge 114 fit inside cavity 400. Male end connector 106 issecured within female end connector 300. Moreover, cavity 400 is of asize to allow magnets 108 and 310 to be aligned with each other. Femaleend connector 300 is sized to surround the periphery of male endconnector 106 so that portions of each connector are connectable.

Besides the physical fit provided by connectors 106 and 300, the presentinvention holds the connectors together magnetically as a result of theinteraction between magnets 108 and 310. The magnetic forces of thepresent invention prevents connectors 106 and 300 from being separated,but without the need of plastic connectors, hooks or any other devicethat may break, be worn down or broken off.

Thus, when male end connector 106 is secured with female end connector300, laces, such as laces 102 and 104 shown in FIG. 1, may be held inplace. Further, the ends of laces 102 and 104 may be prevented fromfraying or unraveling. Laces 102 and 104 are not loose so as to getcaught on anything or become untied during activities. For example, laceends of laces for a binding are placed within the lace end assembly tosecure the laces. The magnetic coupling provided by connectors 106 and300 prevent the laces from coming loose.

FIG. 5 depicts a lace end assembly 518 attached to a binding 500.Binding 500 includes binding portion 502, heel portion 506 and sole 504.Portions 502 and 504 may be stitched together, along with sole 504.Preferably, binding 500 is a binding made for sporting activities,particularly, wakeboard activities. Binding 500 may attach to a board orother equipment while the user is wearing binding 500.

Lace end assembly 518 secures loose ends of laces 102 and 104. Laces 102and 104, as disclosed above, may tie together to keep binding 500 on thefoot of a user. Lace end assembly 518 includes female end connector 300and male end connector 106 that are coupled magnetically with eachother. Magnets, like magnets 108 and 310 disclosed above, secure theconnectors to each other. Base 304 extends from female end connector 300to seat male end connector 106. In other words, male end connector 106sits within the area defined by base 304 and the cavity defined byfemale end connector 300.

Lace end assembly 518 is attached to binding portion 502 by fabric 520.Fabric 520 may be stitched together with binding portion 502. Base 304is secured to fabric 520 to hold lace end assembly 518 in place.

As shown in FIG. 5, female end connector 300 and male end connector 106are separate and divided by line 532. When uncoupled, male end connector106 should not be in contact with binding 500, and is unseated from base304. Male end connector 106 may be uncoupled from female end connector300 by simply pressing male end connector 106 into the hole defined bybase 304 on fabric 520. Male end connector 106 then may be pulled outfrom female end connector 300 so that laces 102 and 104 disconnect frombinding 500.

Laces 102 and 104 still have their ends enclosed by male end connector106 through hole 205. Male end connector 106 also includes a cavity tofit the ends of laces 102 and 104. When a user wishes to remove male endassembly 106 from laces 102 and 104, the knotted ends within male endconnector 106 are untied so that each lace can be removed via hole 205.

In accordance with the above description, the present invention alsoprovides for a method of securing laces in a binding, such as awakeboard binding. The method can be used by a wearer of the bindingthat would like to keep the laces from coming loose. Referring to FIGS.1-5 above, the method includes passing a pair of laces, such as laces102 and 104, through opening 205 in male end connector 106 of lace endassembly 518. The method also includes knotting ends of the pair oflaces 102 and 104, as shown by knotted end 202 above. Male end connector106 includes cavity 206 to retain knotted end 202. The method alsoincludes magnetically linking male end connector 106 to female endconnector 300 mounted on binding 500 to retain knotted end 202 in place.

Although the shapes of male end connector 106 and female end connector300, as well as the overall shape of lace end assembly 518, are as shownabove, the embodiments of the present invention are not so limited. Themale end connector and female end connector have complementary shapesthat may take any form as long as the connectors can engage each other.Further, the cavities within the connectors may be of any shape or size,and are not limited to the cavities disclosed above. The alignment ofthe magnets also is not limited to being in the middle of the lace endassembly. The magnets may be located within the respective connectors soas the magnets can align with each other. In turn, the connectors andcavities may be any shape or size as long as the magnets are alignedwith each other when the lace end assembly is connected.

Moreover, the present invention may incorporate the magnets in the maleend connector and the female end connector in any manner known to thoseskilled in the art. FIGS. 1-5 disclose that the magnets are placed inthe connectors by overmolding. The embodiments of the present inventionare not so limited. The magnets can be made part of the connectors inany way. For example, an alternative may be gluing the magnets to theconnectors. The present invention also is not limited to any specificconfiguration with regard to the type or shape of the magnets.

While the lace ends are shown as being knotted in a cavity of the maleconnector for retaining purposes, the lace ends could be secured to themale connector in any known fashion, just as long as they are retainedin the connector so that the lace ends can then be secured to thebinding. For example, the male connector could have spring clip thatwould engage the ends of the laces and retain them to the maleconnector. As another example, the male connector could have a loop thatthe ends of the laces tie to for retention purposes.

While one pair of connectors is shown, the binding could have two pairsof connectors, one on each side of the binding to accommodate two setsof lace pairs.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications andvariations can be made of the present invention without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that thepresent invention covers the modifications and variations of the subjectmatter disclosed above provided that they come within the scope of theclaims and their equivalents.

1. A lace end assembly for securing loose lace ends of a bindingcomprising: a male end connector having means for retaining ends of apair of laces, the male end connector having a protrusion, theprotrusion including a first magnet; and a female end connector having abody portion having a second magnet therein, the body portion forming asecond cavity, the second cavity adapted to receive the protrusion ofthe male end connector for magnetic holding as a result of interactionbetween the first and second magnets, the female end connector adaptedto be mounted to the binding.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein thebinding comprises a shoe, a wakeboard binding or the like or any otherarticle that would use laces for retention purposes.
 3. The assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the retaining means further comprising a male end bodyhaving a first cavity sized to retain the knotted end, the first cavityincluding an opening to allow the pair of laces to pass therethrough. 4.The assembly of claim 1, wherein the first cavity is formed in anunderside of the male end body.
 5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein thefemale end connector includes a unshaped extension that extends from thebody portion and is sized to surround a portion of a periphery of a maleend connector when the female and male end connectors are linked.
 6. Abinding including the lace end assembly of claim 1, wherein the femaleend connector is mounted to a portion of the binding.
 7. The footbinding of claim 6, wherein the binding is a wakeboard binding.
 8. Theassembly of claim 1, wherein the male and female ends are molded, andthe first and second magnets are respectively overmolded into the maleand female end connectors.
 9. A method of securing laces in a bindingcomprising the steps of: securing a pair of laces to a male endconnector of a lace end assembly; and magnetically linking the male endconnector to a female end connector mounted to a binding to retain thelace ends in place.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising thestep of using the lace end assembly of claim 1 for the securing andmagnetic linking steps.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the lace endsare knotted and the knot is held by the male connector.